Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing US Immigration specifically Marriage Visas. We are talking about the CR-1, IR-1 and the K-3. To be clear, just as a preface, K-3s are not really all that routinely issued in my experience. I have been dealing with K-3s since even before they did what was called Administrative Closure at the National Visa Center. That said, there are a discreet subset of cases where a K-3 may pop up but for the most part, you are probably not going to be dealing with K-3. So we are talking primarily about Immigrant Spouse Visas of either the CR-1 or the IR-1 category. 

First off what is the difference? One is conditional, one is unconditional meaning that the conditions of one's residence does not exist in the IR-1 category whereas it is a conditional category in the CR-1 category, if you are married for less than 2 years at the time of arrival in the United States in Immigrant status. That said, what we are talking about in this video is planning. What am I talking about with regard to planning? I made another video contemporaneously with this one talking about the K-1 Fiancé Visa and why you really need to have a game plan with respect to, "what do you want? what are your desires long-term with regard to getting your loved one access to the United States?" The reason I say this is because for example in the K-1 context, you have got to deal with Adjustment of Status and that means a fairly significant expense in term of time and resources spent in the United States dealing with US Immigration therein, to get the Green Card and travel documentation and things like that issued. 

Meanwhile, dealing with a Marriage Visa you don't necessarily have to jump through all those hoops once you are in the United States but in a way, many of those hoops are front loaded into the Immigration process in the form of things like NVC processing which doesn't exist in the K-1 context. In short, generally speaking, it takes longer and it is more expense in terms of time and resources to get a Marriage Visa up front, but there may be benefits to having it after arrival in the United States because you have more ease of travel for example to and from the United States. 

The point I am trying to make here, you need to make some long-term plans if you are looking at the US Immigration process. I say this and it is sad to say, because I remember a time when all of this took a matter of weeks or months. In fact, in the case of US Marriage Visas we used to have a local USCIS office right here in Bangkok. I used to file a number of cases there every year and we could usually get things done in a matter of months, literally in some cases a matter of weeks. That has gone, that is no longer the case. You are looking at multiple, multiple months, possibly years, dealing with the Marriage Visa process. Even in the Fiancé categories, you are looking at multiple months to get one of those issued. 

So again, those who are looking at Immigration to the United States especially for a loved one, let's presume here in Thailand, it is definitely a very good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to plan for your Immigration experience.